That six letter word
by Not Just a Nerd
Summary: And for the first time in her life, she realizes how much the word truly hurts... JALEX. One-shot.


**Disclaimer: I do not own wowp **

No, seriously, Justin is being angry for no reason! She is just an hour late, and that too for good reason! It was the ten-minute crazy sale! If she didn't buy the clothes she bought for half the price, Justin would have had to buy them for her at full prize! She was just saving his money! Sale equals profit, one of the few things that she learnt from her father. So really, Justin should just chill out and learn more from his dad.

"I have been waiting all alone in the park for _an hour_", he fumes, like someone had exiled him in a deserted place for a life time, which would have been a good thing, she now decides, because, hello, annoying! He hisses, glancing sideways at his clock on purpose to emphasize the waste of time, only tempting her to steal his new watch instead. "You made me feel like Robinson Crusoe!" he screeches.

And when he walks ahead of her, almost stomping his feet like a child and clenching his teeth like an angry old man, she is frozen in her place staring at him with giant question marks painted in her eyes. "Who?"

* * *

By the time they get home, she has dumped her shopping bags on him, or he has been a gentleman and taken it from her. Either way, after another disastrously gone-wrong date, Justin was carrying her things, so, great!

"One hour", he repeats again, and she smacks him hard on his shoulder, making him wince in pain, making her roll her eyes at her drama-queen of a dork.

"Where have you been?" Her mother asks, hands on her hips.

He holds up the bags in his hands at level with his sister's face for an answer. She just shrugs and smiles. "Ten-minute sale, mom!"

"Knock it off", their mother scolds, and Justin startles in surprise at the pitch of her voice, accidentally slapping the bags on his sister's face in the process. Her hissing, grunting, and stepping on his feet happens so fast that all he can do is stare wide-eyed at his mother, who, by now, is glaring at them in disapproval. "Something's wrong with your brother. He's been really upset since he came back from soccer practice. I want you guys to go and talk to him."

Alex opens her mouth to protest; at the same time that her mother opens her mouth to remind her that she can be grounded for shopping when she still has ten assignments left. And so, she's forced to follow Justin to Max's room. More time with a whining Justin. Just great!

* * *

It's a little surprising to see Max sitting on his bed, hugging his knees close to his chest, and his head resting down on them. Usually, he is never _this_ down.

Justin motions at Alex with his eyebrows to start the conversation. Of course she mistakes it as an order to slap Max, which is totally Justin's fault, because he needs to learn better gestures!

Max startles at the touch, for the first time noticing his siblings in his room through the blurry vision of his eyes. "Hey…." He simply says, sniffling.

She would have found it gross if Max didn't' look so genuinely upset. So she sits down beside him, and ruffles his hair. "What's wrong, Maxie?"

Justin sits down on the other side, and pats his back. "Come on bro, you know you can tell us…. Girl trouble?"

Alex glares at him in a way that is a cross between "you are no expert when it comes to girls, you whine when your girlfriend is just an hour late" and "we are not going to raise our kids like this", but keeps her mouth shut, for the sake of Max.

Max wipes his nose with his hands, which, again, would have increased his gross quotient, if he didn't wipe his hands on Justin's shirt and make up for it. "It's the other kids…."

"Duh", she rolls her eyes, and Justin glares at her again, urging Max to "ignore his insensitive apathetic sister" and go on.

Max obeys. "I… I couldn't tell which letter comes after O."

By now Alex has to look away to make sure her eye-rolls remains hidden from the eyes of her two evil brothers.

Justin pats his back again. "That's okay. Not every fifteen year old boy can…. tell that." He frowns, and Alex fights back a snicker.

"But they…" Max sniffles again, "They called me a retard!"

This time, Alex smacks his shoulder on purpose. "What's the big deal about that? It's just another insult!"

"It's offensive, it needs to stop", Justin hisses, but she just dismisses it with a scoff, "Oh grow up!"

"They were all laughing at me Alex," Max continues, looking up at her innocently with red, puffy eyes, and a red, puffy nose, in such a way that it melts her heart. "They kept laughing and chanting and…. It hurts."

She doesn't really understand what the big deal is, but hey, if her little brother is crying, she is willing to give him a big hug, and give Justin the "This is how we will raise our kids" glare.

Justin joins in the hug. "You are not a retard. You are just different…. You are special."

"It that your pick-up line for your monster girlfriends?" she retorts, and finally, Max chuckles, which is totally why she said this. Yep.

All Justin can do is glare. And seriously, god! She was just _one_ hour late! Let it go now!

* * *

**Three months later **

_He knows he's in trouble. He knows he needs her. One of his hands wipes the sweat off his forehead as he searches around for her in his Grandma's house. He can't remember why he is here right now, but that doesn't matter at this moment. All that matters is finding her. _

_And finally he spots her. Right in front of him. It's like she appeared out of thin air. Sometimes he really thinks that is the case- she is some magical being playing with him by appearing and disappearing in his life. She is too good to be true. _

"_Alex." He tugs on her arms and pulls her to a side. "I need your help." _

_She tilts her head to a side and laughs cheerfully. His heart soars with relief when he sees her so happy, after all the Mason-inflicted pain. He just stares at her beautiful face. Until she speaks. "I need your help too, Justin."_

_He really wants to help her, like he always does, but he knows he needs to fix his own mess first, before it's too late. "Me first." He states firmly. _

_She shrugs, plopping on the bed and standing on top of it, her head almost reaching the ceiling. _

_He is a bit surprised about why someone would stand in a bed while talking, and he is a bit surprised that she is wearing a skirt, now that he notices it. But he brushes off the questions to a side and speaks again. "See I'm dating this girl called Daphne. I mean, I don't even like her, but she just… manipulated me. I need your sneaky conniving advice about how to get rid of her."_

"_Ooo", she makes the noise non-chalantly, rolling her eyes. "Okay, my turn now. Can you stay here a while and do my homework for me please?"_

"_No, Alex, I really need your help. I'm in trouble." He pleads, looking into her big brown eyes. There's something throbbing in his chest, and he thinks it may be his heart. _

_She just shrugs, and keeps kicking the bed with her feet, completely casual, and completely unconcerned about his problem. _

_His eyes freeze in shock when he realizes that she isn't going to help, that she doesn't even care. He shakes his head, looking at her face one more time and feeling his heart breaking, and leaves the room, yelling back a "Why do I even try?" at her. _

"_Don't be angry, Justin." He turns back to see his mother there with her, also appearing out of thin air. _

"_I'm not angry." He states, his voice cracking with emotions. "I'm just hurt. There's a difference." And he's gone with the slam of her door, wondering why exactly he comes back to her every damn time, expecting her help, when she never gives a dang about him. _

_

* * *

_

He wakes up in his bed in sweat, his eyes gleaming with distinct images of the vivid dream. His eyes adjust to the daylight, and he turns his head to see that he is in his own bed, with her by his side, tucked under his arm, sleeping peacefully, and he knows he is back in reality.

He realizes that he dreamt about things that happened two years back. But the actual events are washed away and replaced by the scariest possible images. He wonders why he had such a strange and meaningless dream. There is an actual pain in the left side of his chest, and the feeling of something hammering on his head. It's like a restless panic is trying to swallow him up whole, a hypnotizing voice whispering in his ears that something is going to go terribly wrong.

And before he can wake her up and talk to her, hug her to death, remind her that she is his, his mother suddenly opens the door with a tray in her hand, freezes when she sees her son and her daughter. Together. In the same bed.

And he knows what's wrong.

Her hands tremble, her face pales, but she manages to maintain balance. Because these are their kids, they raised them properly, this surely wasn't happening, there had to be some other reason! "W-What is your sister doing here?"

He shakes his sister gently, trying to wake her up. She slips out a bare hand from under the sheets to slap him, revealing her bare shoulder as well, and any chance of escaping from this is gone.

The sound of something shattering wakes her up, and she finds a broken tray of food lying all over the floor. Her breath hitches in fear. "Justin?"

_

* * *

_

The way their father is sitting down quietly is far worse than _anything_ he could have said or done. She just can't take it anymore. "Daddy?"

"Don't call him that!" their mother fumes, glaring at them, still trying to form a barrier of disbelief. "We are ashamed that you are our kids!"

She sniffles, but steps back quietly. She can't say that she's sorry for being with Justin, because she isn't. She holds his hand more firmly. There was no way they could separate them!

"Justin is moving out for college", his father finally speaks, and in such a dreadful voice that she takes back her previous words- _this_ is worse. "And you two are not allowed to be alone in his house or outside. Ever."

"Daddy, please." She begs, sniffles. "We really love each other."

"Please, mom." He echoes. "We want to be together…"

But their father just shakes his head sternly. "This is final. And I also want you two to end whatever…. twisted craziness is going on between you two. I don't want two… _retards_ living in my house!"

And for the first time in her life, she realizes how much the word truly hurts, that one word stinging somewhere in her chest and reducing her to tears. It's like she can see them being circled by the whole wide world, laughing and mocking them, judging them, chanting that six-letter word. Just because she and Justin love each other doesn't mean they are….. _retards! _

* * *

The two weeks that follow is horrible. Their parents don't talk to them at all; yet, one of them is always with either to them to make sure they are not together, and the uncomfortable silence that follows makes it all worse. Max doesn't say anything to them either, and they can't figure out yet if he knows. They spend all days and nights crying, and after a while, their tears dry out, replaced by an empty feeling in their chest, and they think they have an idea about how death might feel.

For fourteen days, every day at breakfast, they keep looking at each other with longing in their teary eyes, regretting being so careless, and getting into this mess, wishing they could have another chance to be together. And on the fifteenth day, her eyes are resolute; she has made up her mind that she is going to be with him no matter what. This guard won't last forever; they will get out of the house someday, earn their own money, have their own place, and be together. She pleads him with her eyes to agree. He just offers her a weak smile of reassurance.

* * *

She's a bit surprised when Max promises to watch over her properly and sends her mother away from her room. It's good to be finally able to breathe out of her parents' eyesight, but she is worried about what Max might have to say.

"I know", he says, and her throat clogs with guilt, her eyelashes curling against her eyes, squeezing the teardrop out.

"Say it", she sniffles, hiding her face between her hands, "Call us retards". She feels a hand on her back, and dares to take a peek at Max from between her fingers.

Max smiles. "No, you are just…. different. And I'm going to help you."

~The end~

* * *

**A/N: how many of you thought the six-letter word was incest? Raise your hands! XD Well, ever since I found out I could write, I decided I'd use it for something good. Please tell me if this got boring/too preachy/if you enjoyed it. Your feedback is VERY important to me, because this is what I want to do with my life/writing. Thanks :) **


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